


The Mark That Never Healed

by FilmFreak94



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-07
Updated: 2016-02-07
Packaged: 2018-05-18 19:04:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5939806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FilmFreak94/pseuds/FilmFreak94
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A tender moment between Rose and her Pearl.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Mark That Never Healed

**Author's Note:**

> Another brief product of a more romantic writing prompt with a kind of downer ending because I'm a jerk.

“Pearl, you really don’t have to polish that thing every time you come in here.”

“It always gets so filthy!” The cream colored Gem was hard at work with a washcloth in hand, scrubbing at the many smudges she found on the giant coin Rose Quartz kept as a memento in her armory. A memento of _what_ she had never found out, only getting a vague description of a two-headed monster attacking a human bank.

“Pearl,” Rose called out to the Gem again, “it’s fine.” Pearl ignored her, not intentionally, as she fell deeper into her frustrated cleaning habit. Everything was always so filthy. The Temple, the beach where all the human garbage washed ashore, Amethyst’s room (the worst offender), she couldn’t stomach it even if she had a stomach.

“Blasted… dirty… Lincoln!” She began rubbing against the coin so hard it might spontaneously combust at any time. It probably would have were it not for the timely intervention of the taller Gem.

“Pearl,” this time all she had to do was lay a hand on the cream Gem’s shoulder and she stopped. Her eyes darting to Rose’s hand, her face donning a shade that more resembled Rose’s natural color. 

“Sorry,” she cleared her throat as she stood, “I got carried away again.”

“I’m used to it.” The larger Gem gave a chuckle that set Pearl’s mind at ease. She could do no wrong in Rose’s eyes, and the sentiment was reciprocated tenfold.

“I think I’ve trained enough for the day,” Rose said, “would you like to return home?” 

Home. A word that carried many meanings to many lifeforms. Thousands of years ago she had called Homeworld her home (fittingly enough). The factory within Homeworld could well be a home too, though she never longed to return to it. The very Gemstone that resided on her forehead could be described as a home, a retreat whenever they were damaged beyond all natural repair. It wasn’t much of a home though, and The Temple wasn’t much of a home either from how little time they all spent there. She had decided a long time ago home only meant one thing to her, and she took it by the hand as she said, “Yes, let’s go.”

Pearl and Rose walked arm in arm outside of the cave and held onto each other as Rose leaped from the edge of the cliff, gliding gently to the bottom where the secret Warp Pad lay waiting for them. They stood near the center of it as a great beam of light surrounded them, lifting them high into the air and through what felt like a very large tunnel. All around them the cosmos stretched in every direction, just outside the beam of light, and yet all Pearl could look at was the rose-tinted Gem that towered above her.

She turned away when Rose caught her glance but the taller Gem just laughed. Pearl felt something inside her bubbling up. To a human it might feel as though one’s heart were growing lighter, and that an overall sensation of ecstasy were spreading throughout your body with each beat. Pearl didn’t have a heart, not a human one, so she couldn’t describe it in as simple terms. She could only describe it when she was with Rose, and she probably couldn’t name a feeling after her alone.

Her gaze was brought back to the taller Gem when Rose guided her head with a hand placed gently under her chin. Rose’s eyes rivaled all the stars in the known universe, and her smile beat all the hazy, bright red and yellow sunsets that she loved to watch so much. She didn’t have a heart, but she felt it melting as Rose said those two magical words that pierced her more than any sword or spear she had sustained during the long war for their independence.

“My Pearl.” A kiss, soft and brief, was left on her forehead. Right at the center of her oval-shaped Gemstone, leaving an unseen mark forever upon it.

It was a mark that Pearl refused to clean for a good many weeks afterward, and a mark that she felt every time she saw Rose staring at her like she was the only Gem on Earth. A mark that she felt burn every time they were apart. A mark that stung every time a little boy reminded her so much of his mother.


End file.
